It's not exactly the moving of the Pyramids. But a small bit of Tallahassee history has ended with the changing locations of a McDonald's restaurant on Magnolia Drive.

The new McDonald's is on the west side of Magnolia, at its intersection with Governor's Square Boulevard. It replaced a McDonald's on the east side of Magnolia and two blocks north at Hays Street — which had been Tallahassee's first fast food/gas station combination.

The new McDonald's on Magnolia opened in June; the old McDonald's on Magnolia closed its convenience store/gas operations in March and its food operations in May. The old facility, at 205 N. Magnolia Drive, was demolished last week.

No plans have been announced for the previous site, which is owned by the McDonald's Corporation.

The previous McDonald's opened in June 1996, after a yearlong effort to gain permits and overcome neighborhood objections. The restaurant included a Circle K convenience store and gas station and was the first in Tallahassee to combine fast food and gasoline sales.

Tallahassee now has several similar operations — including a McDonald's/Circle K convenience store and gas station at 811 Lake Bradford Road.

The new McDonald's on Magnolia Drive is a standalone restaurant, with several improvements over the previous facility. The new facility has a double-lane drive-thru and larger seating capacity than the previous store, which shared space with the convenience store. The new store features contemporary decor, lounge-style seating areas and free WiFi.

The new location appears easier for cars to access than the old location; many of the 1996 objections to the old location was access to a store shoehorned between an office complex entrance and little-used Hays Street.

McDonald's now has 16 locations in Tallahassee.

"Simply put, the (Magnolia Drive) restaurant was relocated to a traditional restaurant venue to increase convenience to and better serve our customers' demands," said Amy Bagner, a communications official for McDonald's operations in Florida. "McDonald's has modernized quite a few restaurants in the area, and four new restaurants have been built within the last five years (in Tallahassee)."